An Inside Job
by Dr. Magic PhD
Summary: Episode 5 in the "Complete" series: James, Matthew, and Wesley, the three most powerful brother witches on either side of the Mississippi, have to deal with the fact that what happens to them isn't always as supernatural as they may think...
1. Back to Work

_Well, Happy New Year to everybody! It's 2005, and my resolution is to do right this time… I say that every year! I hope everybody's enjoying everything in January! I'm back at work now, which means I'm back to work on my stories! Doesn't say much about my work ethic… This one may be a little shaky at first, but what y'all see is all that I have written on it so far, so take it or leave it!_

* * *

The new year had finally come. It was 2001 and everyone was partying like it was going out of style. James, Matthew, and Wesley had decided to throw a huge party at their brand new house. It had been mysteriously willed to them by their real parents, who had died shortly after meeting them. In fact, everything that had happened to these three people over the past six months had been nothing short of mysterious.

Just six short months ago, Wesley was a mere sixteen years old and a graduate of a Dallas, Texas private school, planning to attend Oxford College, a smaller two-year division of Emory University, where he would automatically transfer as a junior. Six months ago, Matthew Hart was a seventeen year old graduate of a Philadelphia high school and his town's next boxing sensation. He had been accepted to Oxford College and everything was going just fine. Only six months ago, nineteen year old James Armstrong had begun his second year at Oxford College as a Resident Advisor. He was well on his way; he had enrolled in the five year biological engineering program and seemed to be doing just fine.

That is, until he met Wesley and Matthew. The moment the three of them met, their lives changed forever. They all found out that not only were they actual brothers, but _witches_ as well, destined to "free the world from all evil" as a Prophecy had foretold. Slowly, they began to accept their new roles and since then had become very close to each other, which was expected since they were constantly battling various forces of evil. They had met their birth parents once, but shortly after they were both killed by one of many warlocks and demons who had tried to acquire their powers.

Since then, the three brothers had learned to trust and help each other, no matter what. Their newfound brotherhood had taken them on a path of ups and downs that no one else would have been able to cope with and understand. They had grown and matured, or at least as much as they wanted to do so. Now, James was twenty years old, Matthew was eighteen, and Wesley was seventeen. In addition to dealing with all the supernatural things they had to deal with, they also had the grueling reality of college life as well.

* * *

Now, they were back at college, back to the books. James, who had his own dorm room, had gone to the library to study. He claimed that he could never get anything done with Wesley always hanging around. Wesley had spent the last hour ducking and dodging books, pens, pencils, and anything else Matthew could get his hands on. The strange thing, though, was that just before the objects would hit Wesley, they would turn transparent and pass right through him!

"Matt!" Wesley pleaded. "Stop that! Why can't you pick on somebody else?"

"Because you conveniently live here," Matthew answered. "And you're the easiest person to pick on. Besides, I have to work on this new power, don't I?"

"Not all the live long day," Wesley said. "I'm done being your guinea pig. I'm out of here."

Wesley went to open the door, but an unseen gesture from Matthew caused Wesley's hand to pass through the doorknob, as if he had never touched it at all. Wesley turned back and glared at his older brother, but Matthew only grinned slyly and winked back. He was really starting to get the hang of this new aspect of his power. Since becoming witches, Matthew had inherited the ability to alter the density of his body, effectively allowing him to phase through solid matter. Now, his power had expanded to the point where he could cause other things or people to phase as well.

"This ain't right, Matt," Wesley said calmly. "You can't kidnap me in my own room. And I've never used my powers on you."

"That's because your powers don't work on us," Matthew said, referring to the fact that Wesley couldn't freeze either of his brothers.

"One day," Wesley said, "I'll get a power that'll tear you up."

"Until then," Matthew said, picking up a shoe, "stand still, homeboy."

* * *

James was in the library, trying as hard as he could to keep his mind focused on the enormous biology book in front of him. For the past hour, though, his mind was preoccupied with other things, mostly Lina. He hadn't seen her since before the holiday break, which was a month ago. Even though the students were starting to trickle back into the school, she still hadn't come back yet. He was starting to get worried about her. It wasn't like her to wait so long; she had presented herself as one of those people who would never miss a class. She seemed to be as dedicated to attending classes as postmen were about delivering mail (the whole rain, sleet, and snow thing).

He was about to give up "studying" when two hands suddenly covered his eyes. He smiled as he turned around, not saying a word, to see Lina, the very girl he had been daydreaming about for the past hour. She looked exceptionally beautiful, probably because he hadn't seen her for a month.

"Hey there, big boy," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Where've you been?"

"Here and there," she answered. "How was your vacation?"

"It was," James said, "exhausting. You?"

"Very relaxing," she replied. "What do you mean 'exhausting?'"

"You know," James said, thinking quickly. He didn't want to expose his secret. "Dealing with my brothers and all."

"Of course," Lina said. "They're new, after all, right?"

"Yeah," James said. "We should all hang out sometime."

"I'd love that," she responded, smiling. "I'd love to get to know them."

"Great," James said. "You won't believe what Wesley think about you."

"Try me," she said, leaning in closer.

* * *

_Jimmy! Don't be tellin' Lina what Wesley thinks about her! You know better than that! And Matt! Practicing your new-grown powers like that! You oughta be ashamed! How strange, then, that Wesley hasn't done anything wrong…yet. Hopefully coming up next: Wesley gets a job, and into trouble with his brothers for using magic a little too freely…_


	2. Forgetful

_I had to take this story down so I could make a vital change to it. The beginning of the first chapter stated that it was now 2005 in the story, but it's really 2001. For a hot minute, I forgot that I was writing in the distant past…a whole four years ago! Anyway, on with the story!_

* * *

"Matt!" Wesley shouted. "If you don't stop right now…"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. He let out a sigh of relief as he opened the door. Stephanie was standing there with her arms folded. He winked at Matthew, stuck his tongue out, and then left with his girlfriend.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. "Matt was being annoying."

"It's okay," she said. "Did you get the job yet?"

"What job?" Wesley asked, puzzled.

"Don't you remember?" Stephanie reminded him. "You applied for that work-study job in the bookstore right before the break. Don't tell me you forgot!"

"Okay," Wesley said nervously, "but I did. I was busy with other things over the break. All kinds of junk, and then Matt was sick, and then there was another de…saster, _disaster_ in the house. It was just crazy."

"Well," Stephanie said, "you better check up on that as soon as you can."

"Let's go now," Wesley said. "Come with me."

Together, they walked across the Quad to the Student Center, where the bookstore was located. It wasn't a very large bookstore by any means (there were only six hundred students, after all), but a job was a job. If anything, Wesley figured that a smaller bookstore meant easier work, which was all he cared about anyway. Stephanie went to check her mail while Wesley walked into the bookstore.

"May I help you?" one of the cashiers asked.

"Yeah," Wesley explained. "I applied for a job here and was just wondering if there was any word on it."

"You can go in the back where the managers' offices are. I'll call and let them know," the cashier said as Wesley walked to the back.

* * *

Stephanie waited and waited for Wesley to come out of the bookstore. Almost twenty minutes had passed, so she decided to walk around the bookstore. She was holding up an Oxford sweatshirt to her body and looking in a mirror when she was surprised by another student who had bumped into her. She turned around and exhaled sharply when she saw that it was Lina.

"Lina!" she said, "you scared me to death!"

"Oh!" Lina responded, feigning emotion. "I'm so sorry, Stephanie. I'm just so…upset!"

"Why?" Stephanie asked, noticing a tear fall from Lina's eye. "What's going on?"

"Well," Lina said, acting distraught, "I don't know how you'll take this, but it's about Wesley."

"Wesley?" Stephanie repeated to make sure she was on the same track. "What about him?"

"He," Lina began before whining some more, "he's been saying things about me, hurtful things."

"He _what_?" Stephanie asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Lina said between sobs. "Jimmy told me about it. He's spreading untrue rumors about me, Stephanie! Can you believe it?"

"No!" Stephanie said defiantly. "He's not that kind of person to do something like that. I think that if he had a problem with you, he'd tell you straight up, but spreading rumors is…"

Her words were abruptly cut off. Before she could let out another word, Lina's eyes had begun to glow an eerie green color. She stared intensely at Stephanie, whose eyes had also started glowing. Stephanie was lost in thought; one moment she was talking, but now she had no idea about what she had said earlier. Lina never took her eyes off of Stephanie; she only spoke to her in a strange tone.

"Stephanie," she spoke, "you believe every word I'm telling you. Wesley is out to get me and he will stop at nothing to do so. Spreading rumors is only the beginning. You will hear what _you_ want to hear from him. Don't defend him, Stephanie. He doesn't deserve it."

"No, he doesn't," Stephanie repeated in a monotone voice.

Just as quickly, both Lina's and Stephanie's eyes returned to normal. Lina kept telling her about how Wesley hated her with a passion. Stephanie was believing every word and becoming angrier with every passing second.

"I can't believe he would do that!" she roared loudly, catching the attention of the cashier in the bookstore. "That's so…so…so…"

"Hateful?" Lina asked.

"Yes!" Stephanie responded before calming down. "You know what, girl? Don't trip about this. I'll deal with him and get to the bottom of things. You just feel better, okay?"

"I'll try," Lina said, covering her mouth. "I hate to be the one who told you this."

"Oh no," Stephanie said. "Better you than me hearing it from somebody else. I have to go now. I'll see you around. Take care."

"Thanks," Lina said. "You, too."

Lina turned and walked out of the bookstore, grinning from ear to ear. When she saw that no one was looking at her, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, having done what she needed to do.

* * *

Stephanie waited in front of the bookstore, furious with Wesley for what he had seemingly done. Fifteen minutes later, he finally walked out of the store, smiling. He walked up to Stephanie and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. She decided to take a more subtle course of action, so she returned the smile and took his hand as they left the Student Center.

"You must have good news," she said.

"I got a job," he announced. "It took some talking, but I knew that if I hung around Matt long enough, I'd get some of his manipulative talking skills. Now, I know that it wasn't that big of a deal, working at a campus bookstore, you know. But I like to think that it's all about the principle. She said that she was trying to decide between me and this other chick named Tina, but I told her that I was much more of an asset. She finally caved in."

"Lina?" Stephanie asked.

"No," Wesley said, "Tina. I ain't thinkin' about that girl Lina."

"Why?" Stephanie asked. "Did she do something to you?"

"It's a long story," Wesley explained. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure it is," Stephanie said. "Listen, I need to go get something to eat. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah," Wesley said. "See you later, then."

"Bye," she said, walking away.

Wesley sensed something different about Stephanie, but he couldn't quite put his fingers on what it was. For a minute, he even thought that she was angry with him for something, but he hadn't done anything wrong that he could think of, so he quickly dismissed the notion and returned back to his dorm room.

* * *

_Lina, I hate you, you crazy bi-atch! Get off the stage, you bum! Anyway, coming up: Wesley saves his teachers' brain, but James is worried…_


	3. Wesley and the Brain

_Because I think that it's so important to thank the reviewers (that, and I admire Mysterious Midnight for doing it), I'ma thank the people who review every chapter from now on. It's a nice thing to do!_

_**Raya: **As usual, I always appreciate any crumbs you throw my way. Thanx for the continued support. And you need to update "Broken Promises" like yesterday. I been waitin' forever…_

_**Chyp:** I'm diggin' your style of reviewing. Short, sweet, and to the point. About the whole new getting new powers: keep in mind that this is a long-term series of stories, spanning all four years of college. Developing new powers takes time, but James may be the first to get one (soon, thanks to you). Trust me, when they start getting new powers, I'm sure they'll be the good, brand name, whoop ass kind!_

_Okay, a lot goin' on in this chapter, so try to keep up!_

* * *

"And that," Professor Lewis explained, "is one of the primary functions of the occipital lobe of the brain. So, the next time you get whacked in the back of the head, where the occipital lobe is located, what might happen if you got whacked hard enough?"

"You'd lose your vision," James answered, raising his hand.

"Yes," Professor Lewis responded. "You might want to put a little extra padding in the back of your hats when you go out at night, then."

"Or walk backwards," Wesley commented to James as the clock struck three o'clock.

"That's all for today, people," the professor said as students began to noisily pack up their belongings. "Don't forget to read chapter twenty-two for next time. Ohh!"

Dr. Sharon Lewis, a psychology professor, was putting away the human brain that she had brought to class as a visual aid. It was stored in a formaldehyde solution, which kept it preserved and prevented it from decomposing. She had reached for the brain when one of the students had accidentally bumped into her. The brain was just about to splatter all over the floor when everything suddenly stopped moving.

"What are you doing?" James asked, annoyed. "There are a room full of people in here! You can't do that!"

"The brain almost got smashed," Wesley said. "Besides, everybody's frozen. Nobody will ever know."

He carefully squeezed through the mess of frozen people and made his way to the brain, which was literally inches from the hard floor. He wasn't wearing gloves, like Professor Lewis, so he had to move the organ with his bare hands. It felt like he was holding an unusually heavy spongy melon. He quickly replaced the brain back on the table, maneuvered his way back to his original spot, and unfroze the classroom. He looked back at James, who only clapped in reply. They left the classroom and went on with the day. Wesley went straight to a bathroom to wash his hands.

* * *

Lina paced back and forth in her room, trying to come up with a new way to deal with the three brother witches known as the Complete. So far, the best she had been able to do was get other demons and warlocks vanquished. It wasn't making sense to her; she was one of the best demonic assassins in the Underworld. She had killed so many other witches that she lost count. Why, then, was she having such a hard time with this latest assignment, which she took on months ago?

It wasn't Wesley. In fact, he was the one she would make sure she got rid of first. Somehow, he had started to figure out what she was doing. That had to stop…soon. It wasn't Matthew, either. He was formidable, though, so he definitely would have to go. It had to have been James, the oldest. She had fallen for him after all. She could no longer deny her feelings for him. It was her love for him that kept her from doing her job. She knew that as long as they continued seeing each other, she would always end up helping him and his brothers at the last minute. It happened with Krasney, the Demon of Choice. It happened with Thomas, the nearly-impossible-to-vanquish warlock. Who knew who it might happen to next?

And then it hit her. She had been going about this the wrong way. Dealing with ordinary witches was one thing, but these were the most powerful witches in history. She finally theorized that the answer did not always have to be supernatural. If she could break them apart from the inside out, that might be a lot easier to handle…

* * *

"It was a clean save," Wesley defended himself. "You can't say that it wasn't, Jimmy."

"Okay," James said. "It was a clean save."

"And you're _sure_ nobody saw you?" Matthew asked.

"For the millionth time," Wesley sighed, "yes! Trust me, people."

"Fine," Matthew said. "Just try to keep the time freezing to a minimum."

"I'll use mine as much as you use yours," Wesley said as the phone rang. James went to answer it. "Can I do that, Matt?"

"No," Matthew answered. "I'm older and more mature. You can't handle the responsibility."

"That's crazy," Wesley said. "You're only one year older, and I'll give you a whole three months of extra maturity."

"And I will _take_ those three months," Matthew said. James hung up the phone and rejoined his brothers.

"That was the bookstore," James told Wesley. "They need you to come and work this weekend for their anniversary sale party or something."

"Sounds like fun," Wesley said sarcastically. "I guess I'll be busy this weekend."

"You didn't have plans," Matthew said.

"Ouch," James said, taunting Wesley.

"At least my plans this weekend aren't shady," Wesley replied, looking at James and congratulating himself. "_Ouch_!"

"What are you trying to say?" James asked.

"I don't care what you think," Wesley said, "but I still think that girl Lina is bad news and you need to stay away from her. Right, Matt?"

"Don't put me in the middle," Matthew commented.

"You were _born_ in the middle," James said. "Now whose side are you on?"

"If I had to say," Matthew said, "I'd be on Jimmy's side. Sorry, homeboy. I just don't see anything wrong with her."

"I didn't wanna say this earlier," Wesley said, his tone changing from light to serious, "but remember the two demons we dealt with earlier, Thomas and Krasney? I think that I saw her hanging around both times. And I really think that Thomas was talking about her right before he…you know, exploded."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that," James said, his tone changing as well. "She's not connected with anything supernatural. If you don't like her, then just say it. Don't give me any crap about her being evil. You're spreading lies."

"First of all," Wesley corrected, "_you_ agreed not to talk about it. Second of all, _I don't like her_. Third of all, I'm not lying."

"A minute ago you said you _thought_," Matthew pointed out. "Now you _know_ all of a sudden?"

"No," Wesley said, confused, "I mean yes, or not. I just don't trust her. Some things about her just don't add up."

"What if I started saying bad things about Stephanie?" James suggested. "How would that make you feel?"

"I'd feel fine if what you were saying was true," Wesley said.

"Okay," Matthew inserted, "end of round one. Jimmy, go to your room. Homeboy, go sit over there. I think we've had enough for one day. Shake hands before you go."

James glared at Matthew, who glared at Wesley, who glared at James. With a little forceful nudging, Matthew pushed Wesley towards James and they hesitantly shook hands, although James' grip was a lot stronger than usual. They both commented on how lame Matthew was before leaving each other's presence.

James sat at his desk, furious with what Wesley had said about Lina. He had no right to accuse her of anything, he thought. Wesley didn't even know her! He tried to put the whole thing out of his mind when someone knocked on the door. He calmed himself down first, then opened the door. He was surprised when Stephanie walked inside his room.

"Hey, Jimmy," she said. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Uh," Jimmy said, "sure. Come in."

* * *

_So, Wesley is getting into the knack of "saving the day" all willy-nilly. He and Jimmy also seem a lot more argumentative than usual now. I wonder what's goin' on with that. Now Stephanie wants to talk to Jimmy about something. What!? Coming up: whatever happened between Jimmy and Stephanie seemed to prompt her to have a talk with Wesley. Plus, the shit starts to hit the fan!_


	4. Big Mistake

_Wow! I was haulin' ass on this story yesterday at work! I think it's coming along pretty nicely, but I'll let y'all be the judges of that…_

_**Raya: **Thanx for the crumbs you always so graciously provide! You make an old man feel good about himself. And take your time on your story. All things in time…_

* * *

Three days had passed and it was Saturday. Wesley got up bright and early that morning, giving himself enough time to get breakfast in the dining hall, known to all the students as Lil's. Since it was early that morning (around eight o'clock), no one else was in the dining hall, so Wesley eagerly took advantage and grabbed all the bacon he could get. He sat down at a small table and started on his large breakfast, which was his favorite meal of the day.

He was in the middle of pouring syrup on his eggs when Stephanie walked inside Lil's. She fixed a small plate of fruit and took a place across from Wesley. He smiled when he saw her, his mouth full of food, but she only returned a slight smirk.

"I think we need to talk," she said.

* * *

It was around noon on Saturday and the bookstore had never been so busy. The lines were circling around the entire Student Center, full of people with all kinds of items that had been put on sale to celebrate the bookstore's anniversary. Wesley, along with the other seven cashiers, was having a hard time keeping up with everybody, but they all managed to keep their composures and work steadily. James and Matthew walked inside the store to see it filled to capacity. Wesley hadn't noticed them come in; he was too busy running his mouth with all of his friends in line. He just happened to look up and see Frank, the assistant manager, and David, another work-study student, hauling a huge box of Oxford mugs over the heads of some customers. David didn't notice the small child that was standing directly in front of him and almost tripped over her. His sudden movement caused both him and Frank to lose their grips on the box and it came tumbling down. With a quick gesture, Wesley managed to freeze the entire bookstore.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" came Matthew's voice from a corner. "Are you insane?"

"What are y'all doing here?" Wesley asked. "Jimmy! You son of a bitch! You told Stephanie to break up with me!"

"You _what_?" Matthew asked, turning to James. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I didn't!" James defended himself. "I never told her to break up with you. She might have misunderstood me."

"You two can argue later," Matthew said calmly. "You gotta unfreeze these people before somebody else walks into the bookstore and wonders why it's so quiet."

"Wait," Wesley said pointing to the falling box, hanging in midair. "Go get that box and keep it from falling on that little girl. It's full of glass mugs. Hurry up before everything unfreezes! And don't touch anybody!"

Matthew and James ran through the crowd of people, careful not to touch anyone lest they come unfrozen. They both secured the box and Matthew nodded to Wesley, who unfroze the bookstore. The oversized box almost fell on the little girl, but James and Matthew had reacted quickly enough to catch it before any damage was caused. Both Frank and David sighed with relief as they took the box and continued on their way.

"We're gonna go," Matthew yelled over the noise to Wesley. "We'll see you later."

"Bye," Wesley said between conversations. "Thanks."

What they didn't see, however, was a guy standing in the entrance of the bookstore who had seen the entire event. He could hardly register what had happened in his mind; to his knowledge, he had seen a box falling, then miraculously stop in motion, along with everyone else inside the store. Everyone, that is, except for three people.

Bryan Muetzel had walked into the bookstore to grab some free food from a table set up in the back area. He was in his mid-twenties. He had just gotten out of prison on good behavior a few months ago and had found a job working in an auto garage down the road with two of his friends, who had also been in prison at some point. He was around six feet two inches and weighed a massive two hundred thirty pounds. Being in prison somehow had that effect on people. As big as he was, though, he gasped like a horrified child when he saw what he saw. Everyone in the bookstore, except for those three, had been oblivious to what had happened. He saw the one behind the counter flick his hands, somehow resuming everything back to normal. He didn't say a word; he only ducked out of the store before anybody saw him. All kinds of things were going through his head.

* * *

"Oy, what a day," Wesley said in a fake accent as he walked into his dorm room, where Matthew and James were playing video games.

"Looked pretty busy," Matthew said. "And you looked like you were having fun."

"Don't I always?" Wesley replied. "Tomorrow I don't have to work primetime. I get the late-to-close shift. What's _he_ doing here?"

"I needed someone to beat," Matthew said. "Besides, we talked about everything."

"I'm so very happy for y'all," Wesley said unemotionally. "He still got me dumped! What did you tell her about me that was so horrible that she would dump me?"

"Only that you were evil and out to destroy her," James replied. "Just the basic things you said about Lina."

* * *

_Aw, crap! It finally happened; Wesley dun went and got himself exposed. Jimmy tried to tell him, but he just wouldn't listen! Meanwhile, what's all that about him tellin' Lina that Wesley's all mean and evil and junk? Something needs to happen with that soon! Coming up: the argument commences, the secret spreads, and the shit hits the fan…again! _


	5. Stakeout

_Hello, hello, hello, people! Here's another chapter for y'all to enjoy, but first let me get back to my new two favorite people on the Net…_

_**chyp: **Hopefully I got yo' name right this time 'round! I try to make the chapters at least 1000 words so that they kinda correspond with the chapter number (like 2 chapters should have at 2000 words, 3000 for 3 chapters, and so on)… Also, I'm not an expert writer by any means, but thanx for thinkin' that I am. It's fine; I keep my ego in check, so no harm done. I think your idea is real cool sounding. I especially like the slow motion and the shrinking powers for some reason. Maybe because my characters' mother had the slow motion thing. Anyways, the half-brother thing is interesting; there's a lot you could do as far as different parentage and junk like that. Their different halves can also let you go into a bigger variety of powers that each brother could develop. You can e-mail me if you wanna talk more on it._

_**Raya:** Babe, what can I say? Wesley's the kind of person who does things before thinking. He reminds me a bit of somebody I know… And Jimmy really is based on a guy a roomed with in college. As I get more into the stories I write, I'm finding that witch Jimmy and actual Jimmy are starting to become the same person. Hey, I calls 'em like I sees 'em._

* * *

"Wait," Matthew said, preventing a definite argument. "He's just joking. Stephanie _did_ talk to Jimmy, but he didn't tell her to break up with you. _She_ was the one who suggested it in the first place. He tried to _defend_ you."

"What?" Wesley asked.

"You don't know this," James said, "but she told me that you were doing things that were hurtful to others, spreading rumors and stuff about people. She said that she didn't want to be involved with somebody like that. I told her that you weren't that kind of person, but she insisted that you were. She was pretty convincing."

"Not the time for jokes," Wesley said, suddenly serious. "Where would she get an idea like that from? I don't talk bad about anybody behind their backs. That's…shady. Unless I'm being set up by somebody who's also shady…"

"Don't start," Matthew said. "Change of subject. I thought we agreed on no powers in public."

"Well," Wesley said, slightly annoyed, "I had to do something or else that girl would've been hurt. Don't act like you don't have any compassion. What's the big deal? Nobody saw me, so no problem. Now, talk to me some more about what Stephanie said, Jimmy."

* * *

Bryan Muetzel, along with his friends, Rich Stone and Mike Corbin, all worked at an old auto garage just down the road from Oxford College as mechanics. They were all in their mid to late twenties and all had the stereotypical "prison" build. Rich was the tallest at six feet five inches, while Mike was the shortest at a mere six feet. They were three men who had been through the gauntlet early in life. They had all dropped out of high school and turned to crime to get them through life. Mike and Rich had been convicted of multiple accounts of armed robbery, while Bryan had been taken in for drug use and drug dealing. Now, they had been given second chances. They hadn't made the most positive choices since leaving prison, but now Bryan had been convinced that a golden opportunity had fallen into his and his friends' hands.

He had arrived back at the garage later that evening, after stopping to get something to eat. Rich was busy under an old Chevrolet Impala and Mike was hauling tires outside. Bryan continued working quietly and patiently until everyone else had left. When he was sure that the three of them were alone, he finally told them what he had seen earlier that day at the college. Of course, they didn't really believe his account, but he insisted that he was not making it up.

"I'm telling you!" he shouted to his two friends. "This guy flicks his hands or whatever and the whole store just stopped. It was like everybody was a statue. And then there were these two other guys. A box was hanging in the air, but nothing was holding it there. They grabbed it from the bottom and then the first guy flicks his hands again and everything goes back to normal."

"What have you been smoking?" Rich asked as he slid back under the Impala.

"Nothing, man!" Bryan insisted. "I know what I saw. I'm not making it up."

"Stuff like that just don't happen," Mike explained. "It's unnatural."

"It's _supernatural_," Bryan corrected. "And it happened. If you don't believe me, we can go back there again and you can see for yourselves."

"And suppose we _do_ see it?" Rich asked. "So what?"

"'So what?'" Bryan repeated. "We could be rich, Rich! Think about what we could do with his…powers."

"Beats the hell out of working in this garage all day," Mike said. "We'll check it out, then."

"It's everything we've been waiting for," Bryan said.

* * *

"Hey," James said, letting himself into Matthew and Wesley's dorm room. "Where's Wes?"

"He went to the bookstore," Matthew answered. "What are you doing?"

"I was gonna make something up about wanting to know if y'all wanted to go jogging or something," James said. "But since he's not around, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Matthew asked.

"I really _did_ tell Stephanie that she should break up with him," James admitted.

"What!?" Matthew exclaimed. "Why?"

"I think I was still mad at him for saying that stuff about Lina," James said, not looking at Matthew.

"You got _that_ upset over his opinion?" Matthew asked. "Jimmy, he can think whatever he wants, but you can't do something like that. It's more immature than anything he's done. What are you going to go about this?"

"Well," James hesitantly said, "I wasn't gonna tell him. I had to tell somebody. Okay, I'm-going-jogging-now-I'll-talk-to-you-later!"

"Stop!" Matthew ordered. James did as he was told. "You have to tell him. Or I will."

"You can't do that," James protested. "You can't take his side."

"I'm not taking sides," Matthew said, "and I wish that for once I wasn't put in the middle of this pointless, stupid, never-ending struggle between you two asses."

"I'll tell him," James said, "but not now. I gotta go. Lina and I are going to a movie."

* * *

Wesley had been in the bookstore for a while, not working, but just talking. He took full advantage of the fact that he could buy things on discount. It was almost time for him to actually clock in, though, so he left the store for a minute and went to check his mail in the adjoining room of the Student Center. He flipped through all the mail he had received (mostly bills and solicitations) and made his way back to the bookstore. Not watching where he was going, he bumped into a man carrying a large package. It slipped out of his hands and almost crashed to the ground. Wesley, reacting quickly, gestured with his hands and the package froze in motion, hanging inches above the floor, as well as the man who was carrying it. He hurriedly looked around, glad that nobody else was around, and proceeded to catch the package as it was falling as time resumed. What he didn't see, though, were the two other men watching from the second floor, hiding behind a door.

"Sorry about that," the man said. "Nice reflexes."

"My bad," Wesley said. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Bryan, the man with the package, walked outside the Student Center and waited for Rich and Mike to join him. They had seen the impossible and now believed Bryan's story. They all got into a car and talked about what had just happened.

"Did he do it?" Bryan asked.

"Yeah," Mike said, "but I still don't believe it."

"Me neither," Rich added. "You were right, Bryan. This is unbelievable. Let's go and grab him. We're bigger than he is. We can take him."

"Calm down, man," Bryan interrupted, grabbing Rich's shirt. "We can't mess this up. And I'm thinking that those other two guys I saw yesterday have something to do with him. They didn't stop like everybody else did. They might have some weird powers, too. We need to make sure that they stay out of the picture."

"I bet we could take 'em all," Rich said under his breath.

"Right," Mike said. "We gotta do this right."

"Good," Bryan said. "Rich, you stay with that guy and follow him back to wherever he stays. Get as much info as you can about him and those other guys if you can. We need some insurance so that we can get what we want."

* * *

_Well that doesn't sound good at all. I'm afraid for Wesley, and admittedly a little pissed as well because…he kinda was responsible for everything, you know? I hope things don't go too far south for him. Coming up: Bryan and his crew takes action, but can these three huge dudes take on the youngest of three of the world's most powerful witches? And, Jimmy's keeps on dishin' out secrets left and right!_


	6. A Plan Unfolds

_Time for my favorite part of all of this! The reviewer thanx part!_

_**chyp: **I'm glad you think it's goin' alright. And I hope that your story is coming along. Maybe we can co-write something sometime. I've always wanted to do something like that!_

_**Raya: **I've hit the real Jimmy with a stick before…it wasn't pretty… And yes, I'm glad you've updated after months of writer's block. I feel ya on that, though. Writer's block is quite the bitch!_

* * *

Wesley had been in the bookstore until late that night, ten o'clock, doing accounting work in the back offices. The bookstore had been closed for four hours, but a couple of his friends had stayed behind as well and they just sat and talked for most of the time. Frank had given them the task of locking up when they were done; even he had left a long time ago.

Finally, he and his co-worker friends decided to lock up and left the Student Center. They parted halfway across the Quad and Wesley continued back to Branham Hall for a long nap. Rich sat patiently in a car just behind the Student Center. After waiting for hours and hours, he got out and cautiously stalked Wesley back to the dormitory. He was very careful not to be seen, lest he blow his cover. He was, however, a very impatient man and all the waiting he had to do had frustrated him terribly. He was almost inclined to just grab Wesley and take him back, but Bryan's voice kept echoing through his head. That kept him in line for some reason. He made a note of Wesley's room number and crept outside to the back of the building, where Wesley's window was conveniently opened. He peeked inside, from a distance, and saw not only Wesley, but the other two guys that had been at the bookstore when everything went down. He made a note of that as well and returned back to his car, and back to his awaiting buddies.

"What took you so long?" Bryan asked as Rich met them in front of the garage. "We been waiting on you all night?"

"He's some kind of workaholic," Rich said. "It was driving me crazy to just sit there and wait. He lives with the other guys that didn't freeze up, just like we thought. I heard them talking about magic and some other weird stuff. They could be dangerous. I could rig up a bomb or something and set it up in their room for extra security."

"Perfect," Bryan said, rubbing his chin. "So now, we need to wait until nobody's there, set up our insurance, then grab the guy when he's alone."

"It's Monday," Mike said. "The campus will be full of people. I think we should wait until next weekend. Maybe he'll do another all-nighter at the bookstore again."

"Fine," Bryan agreed. "Now, we wait."

* * *

It was Wednesday afternoon and Matthew had just gotten back to his room from classes. Wesley still had another psychology class, which meant he wouldn't be back for another fifty minutes. Matthew walked into James' room and closed the door behind him. James was buried inside a gigantic biology book, trying to make sense of it. He didn't notice Matthew come in, and was taken by surprise.

"Have you told him yet?" Matthew asked, closing James' book. "You haven't, have you?"

"Not yet," James said. "I figure, if it's not hurting anybody, why tell him at all?"

"C'mon, Jimmy," Matthew said. "Just get it over with. Tell him, let him yell, and it'll be over. He deserves to know. He's been telling me that he's gonna try and get back with her this weekend. That gives you three days, max."

"Whatever," James said. "Since I'm in the habit of telling things, I'll tell you something else. I think that I started this whole thing."

"I think," Matthew said sarcastically, "I _think_…you may be right."

"No," James explained, "you don't understand. A while ago, when Lina first came back, I told her some things that I probably shouldn't have. I told her that Wesley didn't like her. Don't worry, I didn't say anything magical. Just that he thought that she was shady and stuff. That must've gotten to Stephanie, because when she talked to me the other day, she told me that Lina told her what I said. She said that Wesley has changed and that she didn't want to date a person like that."

"Interesting," Matthew said. "I'm not a psychology major, but it seems like something's going on. I don't know what it is, though."

"I _do_ know this, though," James said, opening his biology book. "I need to get this work done before I end up staying here another year."

"Huh?" Matthew asked.

"I'm a sophomore, remember?" James reminded Matthew. "Next year, I have to transfer to the Emory campus in Atlanta. You knew that, right? This is only a two-year school."

"Man," Matthew said, "I completely forgot about that. What are we gonna do?"

"_I'm _gonna worry about this work," James answered. "_You're_ gonna leave me alone. Then, we'll talk about that later when nothing else is going on."

* * *

It was a beautiful, yet frigid, Friday afternoon. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was doing the best it could to fight the cold wintry weather. Wesley was on his way to work at the bookstore when he spotted Stephanie, also headed in the direction of the Student Center. He ran to catch up with her, but she acted as if she didn't notice him at all.

"Hey," he said as she kept walking and looking ahead. "Listen, I don't know exactly why you're mad, but I think the least you can do is tell me why. How about over dinner tomorrow?"

"I'm busy," she replied coldly.

"We can go anywhere you want," he threw in, hoping it would change her mind. "C'mon. you can't go all shady of me all of a sudden."

"Shady?" she asked, stopping to look at him. "You think _I'm_ shady now? I'll tell you what's shady! The fact that…"

"Ha!" Wesley said, cutting her off. "I got you talking! Tell you what, save those words for tomorrow evening. Meet me in Lil's at seven o'clock, and we'll go somewhere with real food, like Olive Garden. Okay, I'm late for work. See you tomorrow!"

* * *

_Aw, Wesley, get out of here with that if-I-talk-too-fast-and-leave-you-can't-reject-me trash! It'll never work, or will it? Meanwhile, Bryan and his homies seem dead set on getting what they want, but will they be able to?_


	7. Caught

_Before this chapter, let me apologize that it's slightly shorter than normal. I didn't want to give away too much for the next chapter, so I had to stop it where I did. I'll make it up, though…I always do!_

_**chyp: **Thanx for the comments, as usual. I was surprised that your review was more than 3 words this time 'round. Ha, I'm wearin' you down, dude! And no problem about your story idea._

_**quillsandbolts**: I saw that you reviewed my previous stories! Thanx a lot! It means a lot that even my earlier stories are still gettin' hits on 'em! Nothing goes unnoticed!_

* * *

He left her in a hurry and jogged to the Student Center. As he opened the door, Lina walked out at the same time. He faked a smile and continued on, while she glared at him. She left the Student Center and met Stephanie on her way.

"Hey there, Steph," she said, trying her best to feign a weak smile.

"Hey, girl," Stephanie said. "You feeling any better?"

"A little," Lina said.

"Listen," Stephanie told her, "I broke up with him last week. I didn't wanna be involved with somebody who spreads gossip. I might be next, you know? Anyway, he wants me to go to dinner with him tomorrow to 'talk.' I don't think I should even go. Then he tried to rush off so that I couldn't say no. Girl, that's one of the oldest tricks in the book."

"No, you should go," Lina suggested both her eyes and Stephanie's turning green. "Go and meet him at Lil's. Hear him out. He'll only discredit himself more and more by trying to talk about things that aren't real."

"What was that?" Stephanie asked, her eyes now normal again. "Oh, yeah, I'll probably go just to hear what he has to say. I need to mail some things. I'll see you around, girl."

"Bye," Lina said as they parted ways.

* * *

Rich had been waiting for a week for this day to come. It was finally Saturday, and luckily for him, James and Matthew had gone to a movie, leaving their room empty. He grabbed his bag and pulled out a long, thin metal object and easily picked the lock of their door. He slithered inside quickly and looked around. The room looked like half of a disaster area; Wesley always kept his half nice and neat, while Matthew threw things everywhere. That didn't sound right to Rich. If three of them were supposed to be in the same room, why was there only two of everything? Two beds, two desks, two chairs, two closets… Oh well, he thought. They all seemed to hang out in that room anyway.

He searched around for a good place to put his insurance policy, a homemade bomb. He had gotten the instructions off the internet. It was a small room; he wondered where he could hide it. It wasn't a large bomb, but it wasn't exactly small, either. He decided against overly obvious places. In fact, just about everywhere seemed overly obvious. He finally saw a hanging plant in the center of the room and planted the bomb inside. No one would ever look inside a plant for a bomb, he figured. When he was done, he sneaked out of the room and back to his car, where he called Bryan and Mike.

"It's all set up," he said. "Now let's do it."

* * *

"We're all done here," Wesley said to his co-worker, Terrance. "You lockin' up tonight?"

"Yeah, I got it," Terrance said. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't stay out too late. We got the early shift tomorrow morning."

"I know," Wesley said. "I gotta go. I have dinner plans."

"With Stephanie, right?" Terrance asked. "I thought y'all broke up. That's what I heard."

"Who told you?" Wesley asked.

"You know Lina?" Terrance asked. "I heard it from her during lunch yesterday. She was telling some of her friends and I just happened to overhear it."

"What!" Wesley exclaimed before quickly calming down. "Okay, then. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

It was already dark outside, even though it was just half past six in the evening. Wesley walked out of the Student Center, headed to Lil's, the dining hall. He was on his way when someone jumped him from behind. His assailant immediately grabbed his hands, pulling them behind his back. Another held him still while securing his hands with handcuffs. The first one pulled a thick cloth from his jacket pocket, intending to gag Wesley. As he reached around Wesley's face, Wesley thrashed out with his right leg, catching one of the attackers in the stomach. The one he hit grunted and doubled over; the wind had been knocked out of him. He tried to break free of his handcuffs, but they kept his hands fastened behind his back, preventing him from using his power. The other two easily tacked him to the ground, eventually gagged him, and dragged him back to their car.

"Don't worry," one of the men, Bryan, said. "We just need your help with something."

"If I were you," another, Mike, added, "I'd stop struggling and be still."

"I got a short temper," the third, Rich, said, "and one bad move on your part might make me set off the bomb that I hid in your dorm room."

Wesley stopped struggling. The two men who were holding him down in the backseat eased their grips. Wesley looked forward, making surreptitious glances at them when they drove under streetlights. He was surprised to find that one of them was the same man he had helped with the package a week ago. They didn't seem to be Oxford students, though. Then it became clear to him; somehow, some way, his powers had been exposed and he had a feeling that they were going to make the most of it.

* * *

_What are them thugs gonna do with Wesley? You'll have to stick around to find out. Also, is Lina shady, or is she shady? Either way you look at it, that bitch is shady!_


	8. And Exploited

_I learned some new phrases here in Japan that they all use for the New Year. It's chicken year, by the way… I'll teach y'all just in case y'all ever end up in Japan. "Akemashite omedetou" means 'Happy New Year' and then you're supposed to say "Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu," which means something like 'please take care of me this year, too.' So there's your Japanese lesson for the day!_

_**chyp:** Back when I was in school (just a few months ago), I didn't have time to think, speak, or act on my own, so I know what you're goin' thru. When I first signed up for this fanfiction website, my account just sat there for about a year before I really just got time to do anything. Take your time; and hakuna matata. It really works!_

_**quillsandbolts: **Keep reading; I'm sure you'll find that everything is happening for a reason, just like life in general. James does exhibit power-trip-type behavior, probably because he's one of those Type A folks. It's a whole big psychology thing. All three brothers are balanced: James is more aggressive than sensitive, Wesley's more sensitive than aggressive, and Matthew is more equal in both. See? Balance!_

* * *

"Alright," Bryan said to Wesley, "we're here. You know what to do. Just go in and do your thing. Make sure everybody's nice and frozen so we can go in and do our thing. When we leave, you set everything back to normal and walk out."

"Remember," Rich warned, "if you don't come back, or if you try to get us caught, you can kiss your dorm room, your roommates, and half the building goodbye. Understand?"

"Whatever," Wesley said boldly. "So if I do this, I can go afterwards?"

"We'll see," Mike said, waving his gun at Wesley. "Let's go."

Wesley casually walked into the Bank of America and pretended to fill out a deposit slip. When he felt that he wouldn't be noticed, he concentrated and flicked his hands, freezing everything in the bank. He was impressed with himself for being able to freeze such a large area, but that thought was quickly followed by the reality of the situation.

He signaled to Bryan and Mike, who had been waiting outside. They came in with large garbage bags and quickly emptied out all the cash drawers. Wesley watched all of this happen, and was extremely upset that he had been forced to be a part of it all. He also knew that there was a bomb somewhere in his room, which could kill his brothers without warning, as well as any other residents in Branham Hall. He couldn't risk getting them hurt, or worse.

Bryan and Mike finished up and quickly ran out of the bank. Wesley returned to his deposit slip and gestured, unfreezing everything. He calmly walked outside and got into the car, where his three captors were waiting. They all laughed, ecstatic about what they had done, but Wesley sat there, staring at his hands as if they had betrayed him. Minutes later, as they drove away, they heard the alarms blaring as the tellers found out that they had somehow been robbed.

* * *

It was a cloudy Sunday morning and James decided to stop at the bookstore to get some snacks. He looked around, but didn't see Wesley, even though he knew that Wesley should have been there. Strangely enough, he noticed that Wesley never came home last night, either. Being a normal Sunday morning, the bookstore was naturally empty, except for Terrance, the cashier and a friend of Wesley's.

"Hey," James said, walking up to him, "have you seen Wesley?"

"No," Terrance said. "He didn't come in this morning. Didn't leave any word, either. It's not a big deal, since nobody's here anyway, though. He probably slept in."

"He never came back last night," James said.

"Oh," Terrance said, "then he probably slept _over_, if you know what I mean."

"I don't," James said.

"He went on a date with Stephanie last night," Terrance informed him. "They probably did the deed."

"Got it," James said. "Thanks."

"Hey!" Terrance yelled out. "You have to pay for that candy!"

* * *

"Trouble," James said simply, walking into Matthew's room.

"Not now," Matthew replied, typing on his computer. "I have a paper to do."

"I think Wes has been kidnapped," James said. Matthew stopped typing. "I went to the bookstore and he wasn't there. You said he didn't come home last night. I checked with Stephanie and she said she hadn't seen him since he stood her up at Lil's last night."

"Oh, that's bad," Matthew said. "He stood her up?"

"We've got more pressing problems," James snapped.

"Okay, okay," Matthew said. "Well, maybe he's off somewhere doing just fine. I mean, we don't always tell each other where we are all the time. He really should get a cell phone."

"I don't think he's just off somewhere," James said. "Nobody's seen him since last night. He stood up the one girl he'd never stand up."

"You're right," Matthew agreed, "but how do we find him? We have no way of getting in touch with him."

"I think I know somebody," James said, crossing his fingers. "John! John! Get down here!"

"Who?" Matthew asked. "Have you finally lost what's left of your mind?"

"Wait," James said.

"For what?" Matthew asked.

A shower of blue lights signaled John's presence. He had appeared to James before. Although he remained mysterious, James knew that he was on their side, for the most part. As the lights dissipated, John stood before James and Matthew. Matthew jumped back a little bit; he had not expected anything like that to happen.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"This is John," James introduced. "He's our…guardian angel…kind of. This is Matt, my brother."

"I know who he is," John answered. "To answer your question, Matt, I'm what people call a Guardian. The 'Angel' part is just an official title. We watch over witches and help them when they need it, which is why I'm here, I suppose."

"You look familiar," Matthew said, noticing the similarities between John and Wesley. "Are _you_ Wesley's father, because he's been looking for you forever."

"_That's_ it!" James said, snapping his finger.

"No," John answered. "Sorry to rain on your parade."

"Damn," James said, snapping his finger again. "Well, we think that he's been kidnapped by someone, or something. We don't have any way of getting in touch with him. Can you find him?"

"Huh?" Matthew asked. "Are you saying this guy can…sense people?"

"It's not that unusual," John said as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Moments later, he opened his eyes. "He's safe, for the time being. He's with people, though. Regular people."

"Criminals?" Matthew guessed out loud.

"Maybe," James said. "Can you take us to him, John?"

"No," John said firmly. "From what you've told me and from what I sense, it seems like he's been kidnapped because his powers were exposed. I can't risk the same thing happening to you or to myself. I'm not allowed."

"What?" Matthew asked. "Why?"

"Exposure is a very big thing," John explained. "If any of us were to become exposed, it might set off a chain of events that could be very dangerous. Not to mention that if everybody knew what you were, you wouldn't be able to do your jobs. You have to deal with this in as normal a way as possible. Sorry."

With that, John disappeared in the same shower of lights as the ones that brought him there. James sat down, disgusted, while Matthew just stood there, thinking. They were both angry at the fact that John didn't really give them much information to go on. James had called him to ask Wesley's location; they didn't even get that.

"What are we gonna do?" James asked. "He wasn't any help."

* * *

_So **that's** what Bryan and his crew were up to. Bank robbing? Petty theft? Gimme a break! And John, the Guardian, keeps popping up randomly throughout these stories. He's still a bit mysterious, but we'll see what his role is eventually. And Lina, don't even get me started on her… _


	9. Two Much of One Thing

_**chyp:** Thanx again for reviewing. I'm glad you're starting to like it a little more. Sometimes it takes me a while to get things set up for any kind of action, so thanx for bearing through it._

_**Quillsandbolts:** That one novel-length review you sent was very…long! I liked reading it, though. I like your ideas for storylines, too. There just may be something like it in the next episode… And I'm trying to go for more 'situational' plotlines, so just kinda hold my hand through it all._

_**Raya:** Booby, always glad to hear that you're having a good time! Who doesn't hate Lina by now? And Jimmy is starting to simmer down a little bit, which is a good thing for the other two, I guess. And no, John is not Wesley's father. HA!_

* * *

Wesley sat in the back room of the car shop. Bryan, Rich, and Mike kept his hands tied behind his back when he wasn't "working." He was very uncomfortable, sitting on the cold, hard ground. He only stared at the walls and wondered if they would ever let him go. In the two days that he had been in their custody, they had already robbed all the banks in Oxford and sixteen more in Atlanta. Wesley felt weak and tired; the extensive and continuous use of his powers had started to take its toll on him. He wanted to talk to his brothers, or at least let them know that he was still alive. He wondered why these things always happened to him.

Mike entered the room, holding a cup of water. He bent down and gave it to Wesley, but Wesley only kicked it away, trying to kick Mike in the process. Mike picked up the cup, left to refill it, and returned. He set the cup down and grabbed Wesley by the shirt, leaning in very close to Wesley's face.

"Look," he said, "you don't have a choice in this. We bring you water and you drink it. We bring you food and you eat it. If you keep acting up, you know what's gonna happen. Our friend will set off that bomb and blow everybody in that building away. So now, are…you…thirsty?"

Wesley reluctantly drank the water Mike had given him. He wanted to spit it at Mike, but he knew that it wouldn't be the best thing to do at that time. He swallowed it and looked at Mike. Of the three, Mike seemed to be the "nicest," if he had to choose. Rich definitely was a loose cannon, while Bryan seemed like the ringleader-type. Mike only had a mean streak, which just paled in comparison with the other two.

"Can't you let me go now?" Wesley asked him. "Don't y'all have enough money? We've hit like twenty banks in two days. That has to stand for something."

"You're funny, kid," Mike said. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Wesley answered.

"Seventeen and in college already," Mike said to himself. "Look, kid, no matter what anyone says to you, stay in school. Don't let anybody take your education away from you."

"Like y'all?" Wesley asked, laughing nervously. "It's Monday. I'm missing classes on account of y'all."

"Don't push it," Mike said.

"Look here, Mister…Kidnapper," Wesley said, "if y'all are worried about me turning y'all in, I won't. See, this power I have, it's a secret. I can't risk anybody knowing about it. And even if I _did_ turn y'all in, _which I won't_, I'd have to explain how everything happened. Nobody would ever believe me. Let me go. I promise I won't say a word to anybody about it."

"You think we're gonna let you go _now_?" Mike asked, amused. "You've seen our faces. That's already too much info you have on us. Sorry, kid, can't take any chances."

"Mike!" Bryan's voice called from another room. "Get in here! What are you doin' back there?"

* * *

"Nothing," Matthew said, closing the Book of Light. "There's nothing in here that can help us. Any other ideas?"

"No," James said. "This is so frustrating!"

He pounded his fist on the desk, distressed about the whole situation. He felt that everything was his fault. If he hadn't taken the whole Stephanie thing too far, Wesley might still be around. He felt horrible. As he kept running the events of the past days over in his head, an energy began building inside him. It felt like a combination of forces, racking his brain, trying to pull it apart. It all culminated and James felt a ringing in his ears. He looked up and saw…himself…twice! He had created a clone of himself and he could see through its eyes as well as his own. Matthew just sat there, staring intently at what was happening.

"Jimmy?" Matthew asked.

"What?" James and the clone asked simultaneously. "Good! You see it, too!"

"Can you stop with the twin talk thing?" Matthew asked. "It's annoying."

"I can't help it," James and his clone answered. "It says what I say. To make things worse, I can see what it sees, so my vision's all screwed up. Why do these things always happen to me?"

"Your powers are growing, I guess," Matthew said, now examining the clone. It felt real, like an actual person. Matthew waved his hand in front of the clone's eyes.

"Stop that!" James and the clone cried. "It's messing with my eyes!"

"Then why don't you make the clone look at something else besides you," Matthew suggested. "That's it!"

"What?" the two Jameses asked.

"Our powers seem to advance or change when we need them to, right?" Matthew said. "I'm sure there's a reason for this."

"What do you mean?" James and James asked together.

"Just listen," Matthew said. "Don't speak. I think that you can project yourself, your clone I mean, to wherever Wesley is. Once you find out where he is, we'll be able to find him."

"But I…" James and his clone tried to say before Matthew covered the clone's mouth. By doing that, the real James also became unable to speak.

"Strange," Matthew commented. "Now you need to concentrate. Think about whatever caused you to make this clone in the first place. Bring back those feelings, but this time concentrate on finding Wesley."

"I don't know if it'll work," James and the clone said. "It's making me tired to keep the two of us here at the same time. I can barely control what's happening."

"Jimmy!" Matthew snapped, "this is not the time to get critical. We have a brother to save and criminals to prosecute. Concentrate, dammit!"

James closed his eyes and pictured his youngest brother. He once again thought about how bad he felt because Wesley had been taken. It took a while, but he managed to force the same feelings from before back into his body. Matthew watched as the clone disappeared and James opened his eyes, squinting.

* * *

_What a way to clone yourself, huh? It's all weird, like something that's never been heard of before. The only way I can explain it is like this: by cloning, Jimmy is sort of moving a part of him into another place. I suppose that's why he's having the problems that he is. He'll hopefully get into it, though. AND, looks like Mike, one of the three bad guys, has a bit of a soft spot. Will it last? Can Wesley talk his way out of this situation? I know the answer…_


	10. When Is Enough Not Enough?

_And now, a word for the reviewers…_

_**chyp: **Hooray, indeed. You wanted it, you got it. That's how far I go to please the people who bother to read my stories. But don't push it, dude._

_**Quillsandbolts:** I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter. I get the feeling that you're a little hard to please…I must work harder, then…_

_**Raya: **Cheers for the crumbs, lady. For now, just keep trying to put the John/Wesley pieces together. I'm sure you'll get it eventually, like after it all comes out in print…_

* * *

Wesley was just admiring the ground when he noticed a white glow from the corner of his eye. He looked around frantically to see if Bryan, Rich, or Mike had noticed as well, but fortunately for him, they were still counting money. He turned back to the white light, which formed into James. Wesley was tempted to make a noise, but James whispered to him to be quiet.

"Jimmy," Wesley whispered, "what the hell are you doing here? _How_ are you here?"

"No time to explain," James said. "Where are you?"

"That auto garage that's down the street from the school," Wesley said quietly. "They work here or something. They snatched me from the school and they've been making me help them rob banks for the past two days. Y'all have to get me out of here."

"Don't worry," James said. "Matt's getting his coat now. We're on our way."

"No!" Wesley whispered loudly, quickly turning to see if he had been heard. He hadn't. "They put a bomb in our room. If I leave here, or if y'all come looking, they're gonna blow it up, along with the rest of the building. I would've been out of here a long time ago if it wasn't for that."

"I hope the college doesn't expect _us_ to pay for that," James said. "We'll take care of the bomb. Yes, Matt, a bomb. Somewhere in here."

"Who are you talking to?" Wesley asked.

"Hey!" Rich called from the other room. "What's the noise in there?"

"Just me talking to myself!" Wesley yelled back. "I'm lonely in here! Jimmy, get out of here!"

"Well, shut up!" Rich ordered.

"Yes, master," Wesley replied as James disappeared from the room.

* * *

"I'm exhausted," James said, "and my vision's really messed up right now. You can't imagine what it feels like to see you and Wesley in two different places at the same time."

"Try getting a premonition once," Matthew said.

"I did, remember?" James replied. "I've done it all. I'm gonna go back to my room and rest up. You look for the bomb. It's apparently in here somewhere."

"Here?" Matthew asked. "How am I gonna find a bomb?"

"I don't know," James said. "Make up a spell or something. I'm wiped. Wake me up when you find it."

* * *

The next day, the three criminals, with Wesley's help, robbed twenty-two more banks in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. With Wesley's power to stop time, the only thing that _took_ time was traveling from bank to bank. The news about the mysterious bank robberies had begun to spread through the media like a forest fire and they were quickly dubbed the Houdini Mysteries, because money kept disappearing and no one could figure out how it was being done. Even with increased security, nothing seemed to be able to prevent the money from vanishing.

After a long day of work, Bryan drove his two friends and Wesley back to the garage, where they secured Wesley in the back room as usual.

"You're doing good," Bryan said, patting Wesley on the head. "We have one more job for you, though."

"Listen," Wesley said, "I know that this is entertaining to y'all, but I can't keep using my powers like this all willy-nilly. It's making me extremely tired. Plus, I don't even know if I can keep everything frozen long enough for y'all to get in and out anymore. _Plus_, I'm missing my classes and they only give me three unexcused absences!"

"Cry me a river," Rich said, grabbing Wesley's cheeks and squeezing them roughly. "Besides, after we've hit Knox we'll think about letting you go."

"Knox?" Wesley asked, confused before guessing the worst. "_Fort Knox!?_ Isn't that in Kentucky or somewhere that's not Atlanta?"

"Yes," Bryan said. "We're taking our act on the road…tonight. We just came back here to grab some extra bags."

"This is crazy," Wesley said. "Even with my powers at full strength, I can't help y'all with that."

"Then pay the price," Rich said, moving his finger around his remote detonation device. "My trigger finger's itchy. Try me."

"He _does_ look a little worn out," Mike pointed out, speaking just before Wesley was about to make a sarcastic comment. "Maybe we should let him rest and hit Knox tomorrow. We'll just leave early."

"You getting soft on us now?" Bryan asked.

"I guess you're on _his_ side, now," Rich added.

"No," Mike said, defending himself. "I'm just saying that he looks worn out and maybe he needs to recharge his powers or something. We can't risk getting found out at Knox. We'd be back in prison before we could say a word."

"Fine," Bryan said after a short silence. "We'll hold off until tomorrow, but if anything happens, we're setting off that bomb."

* * *

Matthew searched his dorm room carefully, wondering how a bomb could possibly be hidden in such a small place. He, of course, never suspected that it was hiding above him, inside a hanging plant. Giving up, he produced the Book of Light, his family's centuries old spell book, from under his desk. It was an enormous tome, passed down through each generation, that contained countless spells, incantations, and valuable demonologies.

He flipped through the Book, coming across various spells, but none of them were of any interest to him at the time. Sometimes he got angry at his ancestors for not including a table of contents. Finally, after half an hour of page flipping, he noticed a spell that could potentially help him. It was a Lost and Found spell, but he figured that it would help anyway. The bomb _was_ lost in his room, after all.

"_What once was lost shall now be found,  
In plain sight and gathered 'round.  
To restore my peace of mind,  
Lead me to what I cannot find."_

A white light appeared from nowhere and settled in the middle of the room. A light gust of wind accompanied it and blew through the room, messing up Matthew's hair. The light expanded as the wind grew stronger, creating a storm of papers and other light things. Then, the light exploded and the wind died into nothing. Everything looked just as it had before, except for all the papers that had been blown to the floor. As Matthew closed the Book, disappointed at the mess and the fact that the spell hadn't worked, the hanging plant fell and hit Matthew right on top of his head. It fell to the floor and the pot shattered, throwing dirt in all directions. There, right next to the small plant, was the bomb Rich had planted. He picked it up and checked it. There was a detonation device inside, operated by a remote. It was a pretty primitive design and he was easily able to dismantle it. 

"What was that noise?" James asked, walking into the room and noticing the mess. "You got junk all over Wes' side of the room. He'll kill you, you know?"

"Tomorrow's problem," Matthew replied, showing James the bomb. "I found the bomb. It was in the plant. Don't ask; it's a long story."

"Is it?" James asked.

"No," Matthew said. "I just don't wanna talk about it. Can you contact homeboy?"

James sat on Matthew's bed and concentrated again, focusing on sending himself to Wesley. After a short while, he felt the same feeling as before: the sensation of being pulled apart and through a vortex. When he opened his eyes, he saw Wesley in the same spot, superimposed onto the scene of Matthew's dorm room. Perhaps one day, he thought, he would become able to get past the double vision problem.

* * *

_Yeah, work on that, Jimmy… And did y'all hear? Fort Knox? That's crazy, but then again, that's life for these three man witches…_


	11. A Backfiring Spell

_After these messages, we'll be back with the story…_

_**Raya:** I think they'll probably sweep all the awards at this year's "Criminals' Anonymous" Awards Show, taped on location at Riker's Island._

_**chyp:** Thanx, as usual. I don't know where I came up with that whole double vision thing…it just kinda happened._

_**Quillsandbolts:** It's never too late to write a story. Hell, it took me years to get off my ass._

* * *

Wesley took a sharp breath when he saw James appear again. Luckily, he was alone in the back room. The door was open, though, so he might be heard if he was too loud. He motioned with his head towards the door, silently warning his brother.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered.

"We got the bomb," James answered quietly. "We're gonna get you out of here. What was that explosion?"

"What?" Wesley asked. "I didn't hear anything. You crazy?"

"Never mind," James said, shaking his head. "Are you okay?"

"Hell no!" Wesley whispered. "These people are retarded! They're taking me to Fort Knox tomorrow to rob it! They want me to freeze the whole place! Get me out of here _now_!"

"Calm down," James said. "Hang tight. Oh my God! Matt! What the hell is…"

"What the hell is going on here?" Rich asked angrily. He had heard voices and walked in to investigate. He saw James talking to Wesley, but James disappeared at that moment. He ran to Wesley and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up.

"Nothing," Wesley replied innocently. He could clearly see the anger in Rich's face. "I was…bored?"

"Bullshit!" Rich yelled. He pulled out a gun from his pocket and shoved it into Wesley's temple. "You better start talking now or else I swear to God I'll blow your brains out right here."

Wesley remained quiet; part of him was defiant to talk any more, but most of him was scared to death. His fear had him paralyzed and unable to speak. Rich, in a fit of pure rage, threw him as hard as he could across the room. Wesley slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the room, some twenty feet away. He slumped to the ground, stunned. He saw Rich take aim and shut his eyes tightly, expecting a piercing pain at any moment. He shuddered as he heard the gunshot and went limp, thinking that he had been hit. Death wasn't as painful as he had thought.

"Stop with the drama, kid," Mike said, pulling Wesley up from the ground. Wesley opened his eyes and saw that Bryan had grabbed Rich's arm from behind.

"What are you doing?" Bryan asked Rich. "What about Knox?"

"There was somebody else here," Rich said. "He disappeared when I walked in. This kid is trying to pull something. He's trying to trick us!"

"No, I'm not," Wesley lied, hiding his fear. "I don't even know what you're talking about. Y'all, he just doesn't like me and needed any excuse to hit me. His leash must've snapped or something."

"Don't tempt him," Bryan said.

"You're not _that_ funny, kid," Mike said, pushing Wesley back onto the ground and turning to Bryan and Rich. "He knows better than to trick us. Besides, after we hit Knox tomorrow we can get rid of him then. For now, just leave him alone."

"Fine," Rich said, putting his gun away, "but if anything else happens…"

* * *

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Matthew asked.

"You screwed up my conversation with Wes," James scolded. "One of them saw me there."

"Sorry!" Matthew said. "I never know who you're talking to, anyway."

The explosion that James had heard earlier had occurred in Matthew's room. Both Wesley's and Matthew's closets had flown open as miscellaneous shirts and pants spilled out of them. Their desks had cracked from all the pencils and pens that had erupted from them. Across the hall, the same thing was happening in James' room. James ran back to his room to see if he was having the same problem, but as he opened his door, a mountain of socks came tumbling down on him, engulfing him completely.

"Ooh," Matthew said, peeking his head out of his door, "that's not good."

"Damn right," James said, digging himself out. "I'll deal with you later. Let's go. We have more important things to do. Get your keys. My truck is still in the shop."

"Um," Matthew said meekly, "there's another problem. I can't…find…my keys."

"What?" James asked. "How can you not find your keys if everything we've ever lost is popping up?"

"There's a huge pile of keys in here," Matthew explained. "This is gonna take a while."

* * *

_Well you better get your ass together then, Matt! There is no time whatsoever to be makin' such stupid mistakes as you are. Coming up: Is Mike taking a shine to Wesley? Enough to let him go? Will Jimmy and Matt make it to wherever in time?_


	12. Too Late?

_**chyp: **What better way to say thanx to you than this: thanx!_

_**Raya: **I agree with you completely! Coincidentally, I also hate Rich and think that he's bad news. Small world…_

* * *

Bryan, Mike, and Rich went over their plan again as they neared their destination. They had left the garage early that morning and were almost at Fort Knox. Wesley had not said a word since they had left, fearing Rich's reaction to anything he might say.

"We go in," Rich said, indicating himself and Wesley. "We join the tour group and when everything's in place, he'll freeze the vault when they open it to show us the gold."

"Then I'll go in and load up," Bryan said. "Mike, you're on lookout, got it?"

"Yeah," Mike said. "Don't forget, work fast."

"Right," Bryan said. "You got the detonator?"

"Right here," Mike said, holding the small device.

"I have a feeling we'll have to use it anyway," Rich said, smiling evilly at Wesley.

"What?" Wesley asked in his best horrified face. "You said that if I helped…"

"Well maybe we lied," Rich said, cutting him off as the car stopped. "It's showtime, Shorty. What's a little shrimp like you doing in college anyway?"

"Don't go there," Wesley said reluctantly. "Let's just get this over with."

"Now you're sure you can freeze the entire place?" Bryan asked.

"Sure," Wesley said despondently.

"Good," Mike said. "I'll be down the street. There's an alley just down the way."

"Love those alleys," Wesley muttered to himself as Rich roughly pulled him out of the car.

* * *

"On three," James said, standing in front of the auto garage with Matthew. "Three!"

With a swift wave of his hand, the front door flew open and he and Matthew stormed inside, ready to fight. To their surprise, though, no one was there. They were too late.

"We're too late," James said. "If we hadn't spent so much time looking for keys…"

"I told you that was out of my hands," Matthew said. "Anyway, how can we make it to Fort Knox in time now?"

"Maybe I can help," John's voice said as he appeared in a sea of lights.

"I thought you couldn't help," Matthew said. "Or didn't wanna help."

"Things are a little more complicated now," John said. "If they get away with robbing Fort Knox, I'm pretty sure Wesley will be found out."

"What? How?" James wondered.

"You three are still new to this, no matter what you think," John said. "You're looking at this from only one side. Before this…_job_…I was a police officer. Surveillance cameras at every bank are going to show that Wesley was the common denominator in every single robbery. I have friends in the force, so I can handle that part of things, but if this gets to Fort Knox, it's out of my hands. That's federal stuff."

"Crap," Matthew said. "I didn't even look at things that way. We need to get there now!"

"Take my hands," John said, offering his hands to both brothers.

They each took a hand and soon they were all gone in a sea of lights. There was a feeling of being everywhere at once, blinding lights, and then it was over. They appeared behind a bush on a street near Fort Knox. They were both disoriented from the trip.

"What happened?" James asked, clearing his head.

"Look," Matthew said, pointing ahead, "we're here. There's the place."

"Thanks for the ride, John," James said. "Next time, though, try to make it a little less…bad."

* * *

Rich and Wesley walked into the tour group that was entering the front doors of the famous building. As they entered, Wesley was amazed to see how well protected everything was. Guards stood everywhere, unmoving, like statues. He was starting to wonder if his power would hold so many people in place for a while. After a small eternity of walking and enduring other tourists' questions, they finally reached the part Rich had been waiting for, the gold vault. It took five people to open the vault; the tour group was kept well away from it. As soon as it was open, Rich inconspicuously kicked Wesley in the leg. Rolling his eyes, Wesley looked around and took everything into account, making sure not to miss a thing. He squinted and flicked his hands, freezing everything and everyone in the area. He looked at Rich, who was frozen. He softly, but firmly, punched Rich in the face to break the freeze. Rich resumed motion, but held his jaw, looking down at Wesley in anger.

"Sorry," Wesley said. "It's the only way I know."

"That'll cost you," Rich said, pulling out a small walkie-talkie. "He did it, Bryan. Get in here."

Seconds later, Bryan ran in, careful not to touch anyone as Wesley had told him. While everyone else was frozen, Bryan slipped into the vault and returned with gold bars in all of his pockets. He ran back to the car and delivered them to Mike, who loaded them into bags. He came back to gather another load, but was surprised to see that everyone had resumed motion. He stopped in his tracks, forced to think on his feet. He casually mingled in with the rest of the group, pretending to have gone to the restroom. Rich stared at Wesley, giving him a very disapproving stare.

"Look, I'm sorry," Wesley said. "I've only been doing this for half a year. I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good."

"You better give it your best," Rich threatened.

"I'll try," Wesley shrugged, "but I can't keep everybody and everything frozen for any longer than they were before, so whatever y'all do, make it quick."

It was a long and drawn out process, but Wesley managed to help Bryan go in and out almost forty times. Each time, Bryan filled his pockets with as much gold as he could, without being conspicuous of course, and ran outside to deliver the goods to Mike, who in turn loaded them into bags in the car. Then Bryan would return inside and mingle for a while until Wesley froze the place again. Finally, after so many trips, the guards had closed the vault, not knowing that anything had happened. When the tour was over, Rich and Bryan followed Wesley back outside towards the alley, where Mike was waiting.

* * *

_Close call, Wesley, close call… For a hot minute there, I thought that Wesley actually had that much control over his powers, but of course I was wrong! He can't freeze that much stuff for that long! Now, readers of this story, comes the crossroads: there are around 2 or 3 chapters of this left (which are monumental, by the way), but as for the next story, I just really hit the wall so hard that it crumbled down. I mean I'm completely stuck on an idea, so any kinds of bones y'all can throw my way, please do! E-mail me, put it in a review, anything! I had an idea, but went to sleep and lost it. Y'all know how that goes…_


	13. Confrontation Part I

_A monumental occasion coming up hopefully! This story may be the one that tops 30 reviews! I'm so excited! I know I had another story that hit 29, which is just like gettin' tackled on the 1 yard line, but I got big hopes for this one! It could possibly set the bar for future stories. Speaking of future…_

_**Raya: **I'm desperately tryin' to think of a way to work in something unusual while maintaining some sort of story arc. I'ma get it right, though._

_**chyp: **Time travel sounds like a good idea. Let me think a little on it; I have a good idea about that._

_**Quillsandbolts: **I read and reread your review novel and now that I have 5 stories under my proverbial belt, I feel like anything's possible! So, be on the lookout!_

* * *

"I don't see them," James said as he, Matthew, and John arrived at Fort Knox. "You think we missed them again?"

"It's a possibility," Matthew said, pointing to a sign. "It says the next tour doesn't start until later this afternoon."

"But _this_ tour just ended," James said, "so they can't have gone far. Where could they be now?"

"Probably in an alley," John said. "You have to think like a criminal does. Alleys are ideal for hiding out."

"We know," Matthew said, recalling in his head all of the alleys he and his brothers had visited since becoming witches. "Works with all the demons we've fought."

"I think we passed an alley on the way here," James said. "If we run, we might catch them."

"I have a quicker way," John said. "This time, just try not to think about it."

* * *

"Nice work," Bryan said to Wesley as he and Rich loaded the last of the bags of gold into the trunk of the car.

"Thanks," Wesley said, "now can I go? I've done all of this for y'all and I already said that I won't tell anybody."

"You're starting to piss me off," Rich said. "And I owe you for a little incident we had earlier."

"Take it easy," Mike said. "We don't want to get rid of him just yet."

"Yes, you do," came James' voice. He, Matthew, and John were standing thirty feet away from them.

"Who are you?" Bryan asked. "How did you get here?"

"That's the guy I saw in the garage!" Rich yelled, pointing at James. He grabbed Wesley by the neck and shoved his gun into Wesley's mouth. "I told you I wasn't making stuff up!"

"Wait a minute," Matthew said.

"Whoever you are," Rich shouted, "stay back! I'll shatter his skull if you come any closer!"

"You don't want to add murder to your résumé, do you?" John asked. "Put the gun down. We're not here to start any trouble."

"Don't mess with me!" Rich yelled. He held Wesley's hands behind his back. "Now, get out of here and leave us alone. I got a bomb in your place. You don't want your neighbors to get hurt, do you?"

"He's right," Bryan said. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with, here."

"You don't know who _you're_ dealing with," James replied.

"That's it!" Bryan exclaimed, turning to Mike. "Hit the detonator!"

Mike pulled the small remote detonator from his jacket pocket and pressed the button that would set off the bomb in Wesley and Matthew's dorm room. Both Matthew and James pretended to be devastated, but quickly followed that up with a smile. Bryan and Mike were confused at their reaction, while Rich was still focusing all his attention on Wesley.

"You think a bomb could stop us?" Matthew asked.

"_Finding _it almost did," James muttered to Matthew.

"Not now!" Matthew replied angrily.

"Enough!" Rich shouted, cocking the trigger of his gun. "I'm giving you three seconds to get out of here."

Nobody moved.

"One…two……three!"

* * *

What happened next went by so quickly that no one could really make any sense of it. The moment Rich said 'three,' it set off a chain of events that seemed to happen in slow motion. Both Bryan and Mike pulled out guns at that moment. James waved his hand and Mike was launched high into the air. Matthew gestured and Bryan's gun became transparent, falling harmlessly to the ground. Before anything else happened, Rich pulled the trigger. James and Matthew both exchanged horrified expressions; they both knew that they had no time to react.

Wesley, on the verge of fainting, disappeared from the scene in a sea of blue lights as Rich's bullet passed through them. The bullet, missing Wesley, flew straight towards John, who had only been watching the previous events. At the last minute, he shot his hand forth and the bullet disappeared in a small shower of lights, the same lights that John appeared and disappeared in, reappearing in his hand. James quickly used his power to pull Rich's gun away from him. Wesley appeared in the same spot, oblivious to anything that had happened.

"What the hell was that?" Matthew asked James.

"I don't know," James said. "Hold on, Wesley."

"Jimmy, no!" Wesley yelled, but it was too late.

James waved his arm again and both Rich and Wesley were cast into the air, landing hard on the roof of Bryan's car. The impact caused the front windshield to crack slightly. Mike had recovered and took aim at James, but Matthew grabbed James just before the bulled hit. James became transparent and the bullet passed through him, leaving Mike bewildered. Matthew ran to fend him off, but Bryan had found his gun and shot it, hitting Matthew in the shoulder. James was too shaken up to react; Bryan fired again and James fell to the ground, hit in the stomach.

He turned to Wesley, who was pinned to the roof of the car by Rich's body. Bryan was about to shoot for the third time, but John ran and tackled him, knocking him to the ground. Wesley managed to slide out from under Rich, who had taken most of the impact, and saw his brothers on the ground, bleeding. Rich had started to stir and grunted, getting Wesley's attention. Wesley stepped back, too frightened to take action. Both Rich and Mike advanced on him, until they had him backed up against a wall.

"Freeze them!" John yelled as he tried to keep Bryan occupied. Bryan was younger, bigger, and stronger than John, though, and soon pushed him off, throwing him into the side of the car. John hit the door of the car with his head, knocking him out cold.

* * *

_Oh God! They've been shot!_


	14. Confrontation Part II

_This is the last chapter, the heart-pounding conclusion to this episode, and I'm really excited about topping that 30 review mark! It's like winning a low-level award, but you gotta start somewhere!_

_**Quillsandbolts: **Thanx a lot for the ideas…again! And yeah, 29 is a horrible number overall. People wanna be 29 forever, it takes 29 people to screw in a lightbulb, you get 29 reviews…it's endless…_

* * *

Bryan stood up and without hesitation, fired his gun at Wesley. Wesley threw up his hands in panic. Everything was silent. He opened his eyes. Rich and Mike were standing a few feet away, frozen in place. He saw Bryan standing over John, unmoving as well. He took a step forward and saw the bullet, suspended in the air just inches from his face. He snatched it out of the air and quickly dropped it; it was burning hot to the touch.

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?" he asked out loud. His brothers had been shot, the other guy who he didn't know was out cold, and three giant ex-convicts were trying to kill him.

He ran to Matthew, who seemed to be the least hurt, and tried to get him up. Matthew groaned in pain as Wesley helped him up. He held his hand to his shoulder, where he had been shot.

"Jimmy," Matthew said weakly, motioning in James' direction. "Don't worry about me. Just a shoulder wound."

Wesley ran to James' side. A pool of blood had oozed out of his stomach and his face was starting to become pale. Wesley shook James, trying to wake him up, but he didn't move. Wesley felt his hand and checked for a pulse. Thankfully, there was one, but it was very faint. Suddenly, he heard Bryan's voice. They had unfrozen and Bryan was within reaching distance of Wesley. Wesley gasped and shot his hand out, freezing the three of them again. He waved his hand menacingly at Bryan, as if he was going to do something, but he just looked back at James.

Matthew made his way to John and brought him to by shaking his head. John looked around and saw the dire situation. He slowly stood to his feet, rubbing his head, and stumbled over to James. He held his hands over James' stomach and a white glow emanated from them. The whiteness engulfed James' wound and soon, all of the blood had disappeared as the color returned to his face. James shot up, taking extremely short breaths. John turned to Matthew and healed his shoulder. Matthew took a long breath, now relieved of the intense pain. He never wanted to be shot again.

"Not that I'm not happy you're here," Wesley said to John, "but who the hell are you?"

"I'm your…" John began hesitantly as if he had been waiting forever to tell him.

"He's our Guardian," James said quickly. "Long story."

"Get over here," Matthew said. James, Wesley, and John joined him, away from Bryan, Rich, and Mike. "What are we gonna do with them?"

"I'll take care of it," John said. "I have some friends in the force back in Atlanta."

"Are you okay?" Matthew asked. "You look pretty beaten up."

"Better than being shot," John remarked.

"Funny in times of danger," Wesley commented. "I like that. But before we get out of here…"

Wesley walked up to Bryan, who was still frozen. He rubbed his hands and wound his right fist back. He threw it forward as hard as he could, connecting with Bryan's jaw. Bryan fell to the ground, breaking out of the freeze, grabbing his mouth. Wesley continued to Mike. Although he liked Mike more than the other two, he was still one of the bad guys. Wesley mouthed "sorry" to the still-frozen Mike and threw his left fist into Mike's stomach, breaking his freeze and causing him to double over to the ground. Finally, he turned to Rich. He hated Rich the most, with a passion. Even though Rich virtually towered over him, he wasn't afraid anymore. He rounded back and let his right fist loose at Rich's face, smashing into and breaking his nose. He followed that with a quick left that sent Rich tumbling to the ground, holding his nose in pain. He silently walked back to his brothers, who didn't say a word.

"I need some ice," he whispered as he leaned into Matthew's shoulder. "Get me some ice!"

"I remember my first punch," James said, reminiscing.

* * *

"I can't believe I missed three days of school on account of them," Wesley complained as Matthew unlocked their dorm room door. "I can do that on my own!"

"I guess we learned a lesson," Matthew said, opening the door and walking in. "And you got your ice."

"_A _lesson?" Wesley asked. "I think there were at least fifty thrown up in the…what…the…_hell_…is…this?"

"Hey," James said, walking into Wesley and Matthew's room. "Matt, do you realize that I'm finding things that I lost ten years ago? You better figure out a way to undo this."

"What did you do, Matt?" Wesley asked, now amused because he wasn't the one in trouble.

"There was a Lost and Found spell I used to find the bomb," Matthew explained. "It sort of…backfired."

"Really?" Wesley asked, laughing loudly. "You better fix this or else we'll be having garage sales every weekend throughout our entire college careers!"

"He's right," James agreed. "I can't even walk two feet into my room because of all the stuff."

"Fine," Matthew said, embarrassed and annoyed that his spell had backfired. "Let's finish this over pizza. My treat."

"Damn skippy it's your treat," Wesley said as Stephanie walked down the hall. "Oh, shit!"

"Shit is correct for one thousand points!" Stephanie responded. "You stood me up at Lil's! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Only that," Wesley began uneasily, "something came up at the last minute."

"Your brother was right about you," she said angrily. "I'm sick of all of the lies, Wesley. It's…"

Her words were abruptly cut off when Wesley threw his hands up, freezing her. He turned to James, giving him a death stare. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Neither James nor Matthew said a word. Wesley, in an upsetting twist of events, was at a loss for words. He only rolled his eyes and unfroze Stephanie.

"…over between us," Stephanie continued, unaware that she had even been frozen.

"You're right," Wesley replied, after waiting for a few seconds. "You deserve better."

"Thank you," she said, folding her arms. "When you decide to grow up and mature a little more, maybe we'll talk then. Goodbye."

"Bye," Wesley said. Stephanie turned on her heels and walked away.

Wesley just stood there. He had lost his girlfriend because of James. Although he wasn't exactly innocent, either, he still felt that losing Stephanie was entirely his brother's fault. He walked back into his room, leaving Matthew and James outside, but before he closed the door, he turned back one last time and looked at James with a mean, almost evil look. He focused all of his emotion into his right hand and punched James in the stomach. It wasn't a hard punch, but he thought that it got the message across much better than anything he could say at the time. Matthew quickly caught James as he fell back and Wesley shut the door behind him.

"Now we're even," he said, his voice muffled through the door.

* * *

_And that's the end! If y'all want, I'll throw on an epilogue-type thing that will try and clear up any confusion up to this point…! Thanx to everyone who's read this story, and even bigger thanx to those who reviewed! And even BIGGER thanx to **Raya**, **chyp**, and **Quillsandbolts** for stayin' true! Because of y'all, I hit 30! Oh yeah, and be looking for number 6 sometime soon!_


End file.
